"Rape?" Shane repeated slowly, his voice eerily calm, though a tremor of disbelief ran beneath the surface. The word felt foreign in his mouth—like it didn't belong there.
He turned to Sophie, his eyes pleading, searching her face for some crack in the mask—for any sign that this was a misunderstanding or a terrible joke.
But there was no softness in her gaze.
Instead, a smug smile curved her lips.
A cruel, triumphant smirk.
She didn't look like someone broken by pain or fear.
She looked like someone who had just won a war.
"You… You're serious," he murmured, more to himself than to her.
Before he could process it any further, a sudden voice broke through the heavy silence.
"You can't just come in here and arrest him!" Treyond said sharply, stepping forward with a look of utter disbelief carved into his face. "He's the heir of the Collens family—do you have any idea who you're talking about?"
